


Itch

by AshVee



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen, How Inara came to Serenity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 05:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10550546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshVee/pseuds/AshVee
Summary: Inara's feet and hands itched until she stood on the Eavesdown Docks and saw the sunshine filter over the world





	

**Author's Note:**

> AN: When I was considerably younger and watched Firefly for the first time, I really didn’t like Inara. I found her to be of little interest, but as I’ve grown — and marathon watched the series at least once a year — I’ve found her to be one of the most interesting characters. So, here we have a little bit of an Inara piece — initally this was to be quite long, a 15,000 or so word count piece, but I found that while writing it, it felt done right there, at the docks.

The sun coming up over the Evesdown Docks was a brilliant yellow-gold in the morning air, lending a sort of beauty to things that hadn’t the right to have it. Freighters and bulk transports even looked artistically rustic in the hazy shine of daybreak. 

Later, she’d blame that morning sun. 

The Firefly class vessel wasn’t anything special really, not as far as her class of vessels was concerned. She’d ridden in Alliance cruisers that could take the Firefly in its cargo bay and still have room for all the ship’s cargo besides. They were high class, beautiful towering things with all the creature comforts of any planet you pleased. Through the years, she’d pleased a lot, but in the last few months she’d felt an itch in the soles of her feet, the palms of her hands, that wasn’t scratched with strolls through the gardens of the Sihnon Guild House.

She’d taken more clients, did less teaching, and still her fingers searched for something to grasp just out of reach. The client on Persephone wasn’t one she’d normally take — less clean money, less scrupulous morals — but it meant getting into the grittier part of the world, the part that was real. For the first time, in that morning haze, she felt her skin calm. 

“That’s a beautiful dress,” a girl called to her. It wasn’t an unusual thing for Inara to hear. People complimented her on the street all the time, but the adoration in her voice, the pure child like glee, drew her attention. 

The woman sat in front of the little Firefly transport, spinning a pinwheel umbrella behind her. She had coveralls on over a bright orange t-shirt, a smile on her lips that might have rivaled the sun. Inara smiled at her, feeling the corners of her lips tip upward on their own. 

“Thank you. Your umbrella catches the sun so beautifully this morning.” Inara had always been taught how to pay a compliment, and the way the girl brightened, spinning it more quickly and holding it forward, was proof enough that she’d hit the mark well. 

“It’s made of dyed paper,” she said, holding it out. Inara took the wooden handle - carved with some decoration years ago but long worn smooth, and gave it a spin. 

The sun fell in colored shadow across the girl’s face, highlighting her cheeks then her eyes then her lips in a kaleidoscope of color. The itch disappeared from Inara’s palms. 

“It is beautiful,” Inara said, and handed the umbrella back. The girl took it with a smile and laid it across her shoulder. 

“So’s my Serenity,” the girl said. “Are you looking for transport? She’s a swift ride to Sihnon.” 

“And how do you know I’m going to Sihnon?” Inara asked. 

“Only a companion looks so pretty but so sad,” the woman said. “You are a companion, right?” 

The weight of what she’d said settled in Inara’s chest as she looked past the girl and up toward the Firefly. It wasn’t the worst ship on the docks, not by a long shot, but it wasn’t her Alliance cruisers or the private shuttles that could make the trip in an afternoon. 

“And if I wasn’t going to Sihnon?” Inara asked. 

“We’re to Bellerophon after.” 

“I’d have to see the quarters,” Inara cautioned, but the sun was shining out of the girls face again.

When her soft, satin slippers first touched the steel grating of Serenity, her feet stopped itching.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know what you thought!


End file.
